bundles
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Premium 360 bundles at Wal-Mart
Word on the street is that Wal-Mart is offering exclusive Xbox 360 premium consoles bundled with a free game for the same premium price of $399. The discount superstore is selling two bundles; one includes a free copy of MotoGP 06 and the other includes Burnout Revenge. The odd thing is my local Wal-Mart doesn't have these special bundles in stock, so can someone confirm that these are actually available? [Thanks, Gregory C.]
ColdFusion bundle for TextMate
I spend a lot of time in a text editor. Sure, I don't code (much), but I write many, many things. Recently I have converted to the way of TextMate.Why the switch from my once beloved TextWrangler (which was free)? One word: Bundles. TextMate has this really cool feature called Bundles (duh) that allow you (or someone who knows what they are doing) to extend TextMate with new functionality.Textile is supported (which was the real reason for my switch) and today I learned of CFTextMate, a ColdFusion bundle for TextMate. Given the fact that if I am programming it is in ColdFusion this is great news to me (and a few others reading this blog I would wager).Check out the screencast or download the Bundle.[via Ben Forta]
GRAW / XBLA Bundle on the way?
Club Skill reports that Microsoft will release a new 360 Premium bundle on September 30 that incudes a copy of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfigher and Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged for $399.99. XBLA Unplugged includes 6 titles: - Geometry Wars Evolved - Bejeweled 2 Deluxe - Wik: Fable of Souls - Hardwood Backgammon - Outpost Kaloki X - Texas Hold'em That's a great deal. But Club Skill doesn't reveal their source or offer any proof. File this under "wishful thinking" until we get official confirmation. Nice idea though. While we're talking fantasy bundles, why not throw in Oblivion and a 12 month subscription to XBL? [via 360stuff]
HD-DVD bundles, pricing rumored
Big buzz from "retail sources" concerning the Xbox 360 External HD-DVD Drive in Europe. From GamesIndustry.biz:Retail sources have indicated to GamesIndustry.biz that Microsoft is currently planning to price the standalone HD-DVD drive at GBP 199 (293 Euro) [$370] and to package it with two HD-DVD movies. The sources also suggested that Microsoft will bundle the Premium console and next-generation movie player together for under GBP 400 (589 Euro) [$746] – and that the price could even be as low as GBP 375 (552 Euros) [$700].For some reason these unofficial numbers have desperate Sony fanboys in a bold mood. I'm not sure why. The bundle prices mentioned both undercut the premium PS3 in Europe (Subtracting the usual 25% price hike paid by our cousins across the pond, this would indicate the stand-alone drive will sell for less than $300 in the US, including two movies. Personally I predict $200-$250). And of course, the millions of people who either don't have a TV capable of taking advantage of HD-DVD or don't feel like shelling out for an "unproven" format still have a choice with MS. So even if these "high" prices hold, the 360 is still in good position to do battle with the PS3 in Europe this Christmas. Oh yeah, I forgot -- the PS3 is skipping Christmas in Europe. Guess it won't be much of a battle after all.If you need a refresher course on why HD-DVD is better than Blu-Ray anyway (cough...VC1 codec...cough), see here.
New 360 bundle w/ PGR3, points & Live?
Rumors of new, value-added 360 bundles continue to swirl in lieu of an actual price drop. This supposed $399 package doesn't have any fancy HDMI ports or internal HD-DVD drives, but it does have about $85 worth of throw-ins, including PGR3, 1250 MS Points and 3 months of XBL Gold. Is this the recipe for attracting holiday hold-outs?[Thanks Alex]
360 rumor roundup: peripheral madness
So our good friends over at Joystiq have apparently buddied up to an "insider" at Xbox manufacturer Microsoft (sorry Bill, it wasn't our idea), plied him/her with some promotional swag and design ideas, and come away with details on all your favorite 360 peripherals, including the highly-anticipated Live Vision cam. Still set to launch on September 19th, the XLV camera will reportedly cost $40.00, and included in that price are a wired headset, the card-game-turned-Live-Arcade-hit UNO, and a free one-month Gold subscription to get you hooked on introduce you to the online service. Joystiq's mole also revealed the following price points for accessories to be released during the "holiday season": $60 for a wireless headset with 30-foot range, another $60 for a 256MB memory module, and $20 each for various game-themed faceplates or a wireless adapter to make 360 gear compatible with your Windows PC. We're still waiting to hear such details as the prices of the wireless racing wheel and HD-DVD add-on, or whether Microsoft will release an un-bundled version of the webcam, so here's to hoping that Joystiq's new friend comes calling again real soon.
